710 legal tussle still possible

Late yesterday while working on the 710 tunnel story I got wind of the fact that the city is quite serious about legal challenges to the freeway project. This only gets minimum play in the story, because the city discussed the legal possibilities in a closed session meeting and the Council was quite tight-lipped about it. Here is what I did write:

Mayor Philip Putnam said that his vote was about getting the best deal for South Pasadena, not supporting the project. In fact, in a closed-session item at Monday's meeting, the City Council met with their attorneys to talk about possible legal action against the tunnel project.

Putnam told me to "stay-tuned" over the next couple of weeks, so we may hear some more about this yet. Whatever happens, it is clear that South Pasadena wants to be a player in this project, whether that means obstructing it with legal challenges, or trying to get some concessions from the legislature.

Seems to me they are playing it pretty smart- get what they can out of legislation that has a strong chance of passing while examining the possibility of legal challenges.